Clayton Utz partner in hot seat 💺

G’day.  

Welcome to Point Blank – it’s Friday coffee time, with the weekend ahead! 

Here’s some head scratchers👇 

• Emojis bind contracts

• Billionaire WiseTech CEO resigns and sidesteps into new CEO role

• BHP says the $70bn claim for Brazil's devastation is ‘exaggerated’

• And golf clubs for a quick settlement?

 💼 Practice Points

• ASIC released its 2023–24 annual report highlighting significant regulatory achievements, including its first greenwashing civil penalty win and a 25% increase in new investigations.

• AANA's new Environmental Claims Code, launching on March 1, 2025, is set to tackle greenwashing by ensuring that all environmental advertising—words, images, or sounds—is transparent and truthful.

• Supreme Court of WA ruled that a law firm principal representing her firm in proceedings cannot recover costs for her time spent on the case.

• ASIC’s Joe Longo rejects calls to split up the regulator, insisting the current model works and that more resources—not more agencies—are needed to tackle corporate issues.

• New OAIC guidance makes understanding how the Privacy Act applies to AI easier, providing two helpful resources—one for businesses using commercial AI products and another for AI developers.

• It might be a good thing that lawyers are not devout emoji users, as the thumbs-up emoji is enough to ‘express acceptance’ for a binding contract (at least in Canada). If emoji use ramps up, we could see a similar decision Down Under, says Slater & Gordon's employment law head. 👍

 📢 Talking Points

• Richard White steps down as CEO of WiseTech Global amidst bullying allegations and sex scandals but will move into a “founding CEO” role for the same $1m salary. While this move might help the board save face, it feels more like a "band-aid solution". With a possible 15-year consulting gig and White holding 30% of the company's shares, his influence isn’t going anywhere.

• A recent study revealed that when it comes to responding to PhD student inquiries, Australia’s top universities seem to have a racial bias: non-white names are getting left on read while their white counterparts receive much warmer welcomes.

• In 2023-24, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $473m for nearly 160k underpaid workers, bringing total back-payments to $1.5bn over the past three years.

 🏦 The Treasury

• ASX is expected to gain as the S&P 500 rose in the US for the first time this week. The “Magnificent Seven” tech giants lead the charge with a three-month high, with Tesla up 21% on a strong earnings report.

• Treasurer Chalmers says we’re on track for a soft landing with inflation contained without hurting the economy.

 🤝 Deal Room

• Horizon Minerals and Poseidon Nickel announce merger to form a new WA mid-cap gold producer via Scheme of Arrangement. Steinepreis acts for Poisedon, and A&O Shearman for Horizon.

• BHP’s interest in Anglo American rekindles after CEO Mike Henry’s South Africa trip, with a potential move after the standstill ends in November, once Anglo wraps up its Queensland coal mine sale.

• Vaxxas is launching a $100m funding round to advance its innovative, painless vaccine delivery patch, targeting a market worth $195bn and eyeing a potential IPO in late 2025 or early 2026.

• Rex confirms it has sold its air ambulance business, Pel-Air, to Japan Post-owned Toll Holdings for $47m.

• Paradice Investment Management is eyeing a merger with Platinum Asset Management following Regal Partners’ rejected takeover bid.

🏗 Sector Specific

Diggers

• MinRes directors dig deep as board members (including MD Chris Ellison) purchased pricey mining equipment from the company at significant discounts to use at their luxury New Zealand estate, AFR reports.

• Regis Resources is determined to pursue a legal challenge of the federal veto of Regis’ McPhillampus gold mine.

• AER says Australia’s old coal-fired power stations won't hold up until nuclear energy is ready, which it believes could take eight to ten years just to set up a regulatory regime, while the opposition insists nuclear could be up and running in about a decade.

• BHP faces £36bn (A$70bn) class action, claims many of the allegations are exaggerated. The mining giant notes that many claimants have already been compensated and signed waivers, and it's seeking to dismiss around 466,000 claims as time-barred under Brazilian law.

• Australia’s Future Fund raises its investments in fossil fuel companies Santos, Woodside, and Whitehaven by almost 11%, receiving flack for not sticking to its climate commitments.

Fin

• Goldman Sachs and Apple will shell out US$89m (A$134m) after mishandling disputes and misleading consumers in their credit card venture, a wake-up call for consumer protection standards.

• HSBC is restructuring into four business units, making Hong Kong its top priority, but warns that this move will lead to layoffs.

• UniSuper has sold 60% of its stake in APA Group to rebalance its portfolio, pushing back against claims that the $500m sale was driven by environmental worries over the Beetaloo Basin gas project.

Tech

• HMC Capital to build a data centre portfolio that could rival AirTrunk, having secured Global Switch Australia for $2bn and lined up $4bn in acquisition opportunities in the AI and cloud-computing boom.

Retail

• Grill’d faces backlash over a new pay deal that eliminates weekend penalty rates in exchange for a 12% base pay increase, allowing the chain to pay some workers up to 20% less than the minimum award.

🏘️ Word on the Street 

• As the 11-week defective paint trial nears its conclusion, a Federal Court judge allows INPEX to cross-examine a fresh Clayton Utz partner and AkzoNobel regarding the late discovery of several documents, raising concerns about INPEX's ability to present its case fairly.

• A former senior associate at a Brisbane law firm alleges she was let go after making bullying complaints against a partner, who reportedly said she was “not fun” and didn’t join in on Friday night drinks.

• NSW barristers missed the fairway as a man seeks disciplinary action against his counsel for “bribing” him with golf clubs to settle proceedings.